Seeing for yourself..

We often follow the cues of others, sometimes consciously & others without intent. Our opinions can be shaped by outside sources in such ways that we are often not even aware its happening. Thus, the profession known as advertising & spin doctoring arose. The problem for us is that these forces in our lives are often so good at what they do, we don't even realize it is happening.  We never consider that these influences may be wrong or at least not right for us.  Everyday we face product merchandising, political manipulating & countless rumors.  They run from the absurd to matters of the utmost import.


I'll stick to something a bit trivial, movies.  




I read that the redo of the movie The Wolfman was horrible.  Rottentomatoes.com only gave the movie a score of 33% of a 100.  No one's review of this movie was that kind.   I decided to watch the DVD & see for myself.


Was it a great film?  No.  But it wasn't a bad one either.  The problem here is plain & simple.  The Wolfman of 2010 was not, I repeat was not, a werewolf movie.  Yes, there was a werewolf.  Yes, there was much snarling & snapping to be had, but still it wasn't a werewolf movie.


This movie had more in common with TSR or Hasbro's Ravenloft or even Dark Shadows.  This movie was about corruption.  The corruption of the father, a man who lead a life of riches & excess.  A man who tainted all those around him.  This film was a period piece about 1880's England.  This film was about a dysfunctional family.  Finally, there just happened to be lycanthropy in the plot line.


This movie was as much about werewolves as the dystopian futurist movie, Daybreakers was about vampires.



These two movies only involved monsters as a vehicle for the true motivation of the films, corruption.  Both of them were set in times removed enough that we could allow ourselves to believe it possible that people would behave in these manners.   Both brought forth parts of humanity that we prefer to leave in the dark recesses, the werewolf with its bestial nature & the vampire for its calculating coldness.  


But the monsters were just plot devices & nothing more.  The fact a character is turned into a werewolf is almost not worth mentioning when you find out all the horrors he has already faced before his transformation.  Both movies end in the way that all good moral narratives must end, evil consumes itself & the virtuous prevail. 


If I had listened to all the negative reviews  about  The Wolfman, I would never have watched a reasonably good movie.  When it comes to what you watch, read or most importantly, what you believe, take the time to see for yourself.   Do I like this?  Is there anything good about it?  Do I believe in this?  The answers might surprise you.